The article describes the concept of communication competence as a key component of the professional look of the modern teacher. The content of the teacher’s professional activity makes a number of specific requirements for his speech, forcing him to develop certain speech qualities as professionally significant, necessary and obligatory.
Keywords: competence, professional communication, speech action, expressiveness, behavioral skills, non-verbal communication.
Communicative competence is an evolving and largely perceptible experience of communication among people, which is produced and renovated in direct human interaction; this is a certain stage of development of personal and professional experience of interaction with others, which the individual needs to function successfully in a professional environment and society [3]. The communicative competence implies a set of personality characteristics that embraces communication skills and abilities, the ability of self-control, empathy, knowledge of psychological characteristics of personality and mental state, which is manifested in the society. To make the contact efficient, it is necessary to have knowledge and understanding of individual characteristics of students, as well as one’s own characteristics, knowledge of methods of constructing optimal strategies of pedagogical influence. Communicative competence of a teacher ensures contacts, cooperation, joint activities, cooperation and the system of relations. The development of communication culture and the formation of relevant rules are of great value. The extent of the formation of the communicative competence affects the productivity of communication, effectiveness of professional achievements, the process of self-realization, life self-determination, and socialization in general.
Figurative, literate, lexical, logical, lively speech of the teacher in communication with learners allows to tackle a number of teaching and educational problems. Teacher’s speech culture comprises all the components of speech activity and their constituents. Determined standards exist for all components of speech culture and they are manifested as norms of communication: cognitive (perception of others and comprehension),affective (attitude towards others), behavioral (selection of behavior in a specific condition). The most significant norms of communication are ethical and communicative. Communication and ethics standards are specific principles that facilitate to accomplish optimal communication, create a favorable emotional climate and reveal the personality of each interlocutor [1]. They select a mode of communication and function at all stages of speech activity. The specificity of pedagogical performance consists of constant active contact with others. The pedagogue’s job is targeted to shape the personality of students, developing certain canons of behavior and intellectual upgrowth. It is obligatory for pedagogues to possess not only psychological and specialized knowledge but also an acquired habit of professional communication. The principal instrument of pedagogical influence on students is considered to be the teacher’s speech. Thereby, special concern should be devoted to form pedagogical speech, its normative nature, to shape an accessible speech not only for perception, but for imitation.
The teacher’s voice is one of the constituents of speech quality. Voice is the influential element of speech technique. A number of requirements are imposed on the voice:
– The voice should not cause unpleasant sense, yet be euphonious.
– The educator should manage to switch the characteristics of his voice taking into account the communication situation.
– It is indispensable to control the tone of the voice at the time of communication, to afford an opportunity to be heard.
– By dint of the voice, the teacher should be able to inspire students with particular requirements and compel their accomplishment.
On the assumption of above mentioned demands, the following inference can be drawn: the voice should possess such qualities as euphony, flexibility, durability and persistence.
The paramount element of the speech culture of the pedagogue is intonation. Intonation is the use of changing (rising and falling) vocal pitch to convey grammatical information or personal attitude. Intonation is particularly important in expressing question in spoken English. For example, in the sentence «When does the meeting start?» the word «start»- including the question mark — rises up or comes up in your voice when you utter the word. Intonation affects the feelings of students, compelling them to focus on certain details. Another essential element of speech technique is diction. Diction is:
1) a style of speaking as dependent upon choice of words;
2) the accent, inflection, intonation and speech-sound quality manifested by an individual speaker, usually judged in terms of prevailing standards of acceptability enunciation [3].
Proper diction is concerned with choice of words used in conveying a thought, how forms groups of proper words or use the proper style in each situation.
It is important to comply pauses in the course of speech interaction with students. A pause is a form of oral punctuation that can help your audience reflect on what you just said. In a way, sudden silence (especially if you have been using a quickened rate of speech) has the same effect as a sudden loud noise. It alerts your audience and makes them attentive to what you say next.
Another vital component of speech is orthoepy- the correct literary pronunciation. The difficulty of mastering the correct literary pronunciation is that pronunciation does not always coincide with the spelling. Expressiveness is another element of the teacher’s professional speech. Expressive speech is filled with emotional and intellectual content, which is conditioned with the specifics of oral speech, in which intonation, gestures and facial expressions are of particular importance.
The pedagogical expediency of the teacher’s speech at different stages of the lesson is individual: for instance, at the point of studying new material, the teacher’s speech should activate the mental ability of learners, encourage them to independent, cognitive activity, and not only transfer and broadcast knowledge. At this stage, the teacher’s speech should comply with the following requirements: be logical, comprehensible, expressive, convincing, exciting, influencing on not only mental, but also the sensory side of learners [3].
Communication is not only verbal, but also non- verbal: educators should assure that the signals they are imposting through their body language are positive, confident and engaging. For instance, producing eye contact with learners during intercommunication reveals that the teacher is being supportive and attentive. Establishing eye contact is also important while presenting to the whole audience- it motivates every auditor to pay attention, as well as making them feel involved in the process of tuition. In the process of teaching, the pedagogue should apply gestures to emphasize his words. This enhances the interactivity of the lesson, creates visually interesting and rememberable atmosphere. Keeping arms open, application of smile, nod, thumbs up encourages students to participate in the educational process. Moving around the study room assist to remove the barrier between the educator and the scholars, providing them less opportunity to zone out or get distracted. Body language is also crucial while dealing with negative behavior. To evade being confrontational, the educator ensures that he does not stand directly above or opposite of a learner, points or invades their personal space.
However, the features of the pedagogue’s inner world, his culture, spiritual wealth and his conviction in the correctness of his words, are probably of the prominent importance for the art of speech. S. L. Soloveichik wrote: «Nowadays there is a lot of talk about the technical skill of a teacher, about the fact that his voice should be worked out and intonation should be verified. But even more important is the moral character, manner of communication and behavior of the teacher».
All constituent elements of communicative competence are interconnected. The high level of communicative competence of the pedagogue assumes the complete development of all its components, and virtuosity in the application of all communication techniques. In pedagogical communication, it is vital to prevent and resolve conflicts. Communicative competence is the core of the teacher’s professionalism, whereas interaction with the students is the essence of pedagogical activity. To manage the process of pedagogical interaction it is important to be familiar with the leading motives that determine the direction of activity of a particular student.
The lack of communicative competence of a teacher is an acute problem of the formation of communicative skills and speech culture of students. Any pedagogical action implies the contact and the leading role of the teacher in the process of communication. For constructive contacts it is not only necessary to know the individual characteristics of students and one’s own characteristic, but also to master methods of constructing optimal strategies of pedagogical impact [2]. This is possible if a teacher is focused on the formation of students’ and his/her own communicative qualities, and the ability to adequately evaluate interpersonal relationships.
Increasing and upgrading the communicative competence of teachers is one of the crucial professional tasks. Development of communicative competence requires a dual process: on the one hand, the acquisition of some new knowledge and skills; on the other hand, correction, and substitution of already existing forms. The subject-object approach to the development of communicative competence facilitates the cultivation of behavioral skills in communication. The degree of acquiring the bases of reflection, self-analysis, and self-assessment of one’s own activity depends on the active position, and is built as a critical attitude to one's work [4]. The level of development of the communicative competence affects the result of professional work of the teacher.
Within the competence-based approach, the evaluation activity of a pedagogue can be regarded as new professional challenge, the mastery of which happens at all stages of professional-pedagogical activity and requires professional development throughout a career path.
References:
- Brown, H. D. Teaching by principles: An interactive learning and teaching.- New York: Longman Inc., 2007.
- Rubin, R.B., Feezel, J. D. Teacher communication competence: Essential skills and assessment procedures.- Central States Speech Journal, 1985.
- Vasilik, M. A. Osnovy teorii kommunikatsii.- Moscow, 2003.
- Zlatic`, L., Bjekic`, D. Communication competence vs. Personality traits.- Trieste, 2012.
